Communications networks, such as the Internet, have made a variety of media services such as multimedia files or streaming programming available to the average user. A user searching for a type of programming however may have difficulty in locating a media service buried among the millions of programming services and files available through the Internet. The volume and variety of media services available is likely to continue to increase as more users and content providers move from narrowband to broadband connections. This growth, combined with the highly decentralized nature of the Internet, creates substantial difficulty in locating a particular media service.
A user may use a program known as a search engine to locate media services available through a communications network. A search engine comprises a set of programs that are accessible at a network site within a communications network, for example, a local area network (LAN) or the Internet with World Wide Web sites. One program, called a “robot” or “spider”, pre-traverses a network in search of media services (located at web pages, FTP sites, and the like) and builds large index files of keywords found in sources of metadata related to such media services. Typically, a user formulates a query comprising one or more search terms and submits the query to another program of the search engine. In response, the search engine inspects its own index files and displays a list of media services that match the search query, typically as hyperlinks to the media services. The user then activates a hyperlink to retrieve a listed media service.
Search engines, however, have drawbacks. For example, many search engines require a user to input a text query for searching for available resources. This type of text query is typically entered into a search engine via a keyboard or other type of input device accommodating complex input commands from a user. This situation may be less then desirable when a user is operating in a setting without easy access to a computer keyboard, such as when using a home-based media center typically centered around a display device as a television set. The user may not have anything more than a remote control (with a limited means of input) to select between media service choices. The user therefore may not directly utilize the resources of a search engine, unless the control device accommodates a complex set of input functions.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method, which permits a user to search for a media service available through a communication network via control device for use in a media center environment, without requiring the input of text for a search query.